Thursday, March 22, 2012

Chick Hatch

I am having a busy day watching our incubator chicks hatch out. This is the first time we have ever hatched ourselves with an incubator instead of a broody hen. We are hoping to fill in the ranks of chickens lost to predators on the farm. I read the farmers almanac on when to collect the eggs before putting into the incubator. One chick blasted out of its shell and has been running all over the incubator. It is full of energy.

All my chicks are off by a week since I stored them for 7 days prior to incubation. This is quite the learning curve raising our own chickens. After they are dry they will go into an indoor brooder then into the outside hatchery in the coop. They will be around their own kind until they are old enough to be with the flock. They will see and hear the others in the flock and learn the coop is home. And baby chicks are very noisy to have in the house and I will be happy to have them outside.